Wednesday, 20 August 2008

Third-Party Articles

I know I constantly tell you guys to send me stuff, and I'm glad some of you actually have. Today, I am showing off an article one of my best viewers, Boba, has sent me. This is the beginning of a new segment I'm starting called "Third Party Articles." If you want to get your name out there, send me some info on a topic you would like to me write about, and I'll give you credit for it. Better yet, you can also send me full-blown articles that I will review and publish, giving you credit of course. So please guys, send me stuff. Anyway, here's an article written by Boba.

It’s a very rare day when you find a band that redefines everything you have ever thought you knew about life, the universe, and everything. It is even rarer when you discover a band that redefines existence itself…

Sadly, what I have to share with you today is not quite that awesome. But nevertheless, this obscure electronic group did make me rethink my views on electronic music.

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to acquaint you with Proxyon, a rather obscure, yet amazing, space music/Italo-disco artist from the Netherlands who had their heyday in the late eighties and early nineties. Proxyon can be easily identified by the great big yellow letters on the box; they spell: PROXYON. That was a joke about the old 40’s Jell-O commercials by the way… heh… heh. Anyway. Moving on, you can be sure if it’s a Proxyon album or single by the presence of an image ripped from some science fiction novel’s cover, or something blatantly stolen from Star Wars.

I really wish I could tell you more about them, but sadly… there just doesn’t seem to be much info on them. No wikipedia page! Nothing! The only reason I found them is because I lost an auction for a record on ebay, and decided to see if the seller had anything else cool… and noticed a yellow record cover sporting a picture of Darth Vader. The seller offered an MP3 preview, and I wanted to have a listen. My ears were greeted by the sounds of beautiful vintage 80’s synths playing a sort of funky disco-ish tune with a very space-ish vibe to it. I loved it. Sadly, at 14 bucks but-it-now and 7 buck shipping, I couldn’t afford the record. Or any of the other Proxyon records being sold. Needless to say, I was rather disappointed…

But not to give up, I pressed on, and went to the discogs marketplace and found they were even more expensive there, with the overseas shipping. I had just about given up… I had but one taste of Proxyon, and I was sure I wanted more! Then a thought struck me: YOUTUBE, YOU DUMMY. I was very thankful for the thought, regardless of its rudeness, because it proved to have results. I found about 3 or 4 different Proxyon tracks there. LOVE LOVE LOOOVE!! Good stuff… but my appetite was still insatiable! I marched forth in the search of a CD!

…Only to discover that their 2005 best-of CD was a $50 import on Amazon. *Audible sigh* But was this music lover gonna give up??? NAY! I was never gonna give it up, never gonna say goodbye! Never gonna… ugh, too much Rickroll for me… so I finally managed to secure a copy of the CD by less than 100% trustworthy means, and here you have it: some of the best Italo-disco/space music you’ll ever hear… sadly, from an artist you’ll probably never hear of again. Oh, and as of Monday, August 18th, I have the 12'' single of the song. Sounds much better on vinyl

Well guys, thanks for reading, and enjoy the music.

Best regards,Boba Fettuccini

Great article, and here's a track that was sent to me by Boba, Space Hopper by, of course, Proxyon.